DESPOT1 and DESPOT2 (driven equilibrium single pulse
observation of T1 and T2) allow rapid and signal-to-noise ratio efficient
mapping of T1 and T2 over large volumes with high spatial resolution. Multiple
sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating condition of the CNS in which both tissue
specificity of quantitative MRI and quick image acquisition is desirable. Post
mortem brain tissue allows correlation of MRI with matched histology. We
optimized DESPOT1 and DESPOT2 for use in post mortem MS brain. High quality T1
and T2 maps were produced suggesting these novel techniques may become useful
tools to monitor MS in vivo.